17 Last Times

⤹13❁ Perfect

Hello again! Your comments and votes always motivate me, so here's another chapter! Enjoy!

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𝓝𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷

I am not entirely sure what had happened, but when Davina called me and asked if I could pick her up from Will's house, because she'd decided to move out, I dropped whatever I was doing and immediately got into my car.

Now I'm here, driving past the mighty gates of Reyman's sumptuous palace, right onto an absurdly vast and lengthy driveway, at the end of which, stands the opulent prison itself, glorified with a glow of warm lights installed all around it.

How can anyone live like this?

The closer I get to the building, the bigger it grows in size, and the more it does, the lonelier it begins to occur. The ostentatious wealth would most likely suffocate me after one single day. No wonder Davina always wanted to escape these walls. I would too.

I finally manage to reach the front entrance. My car goes quiet as I kill the engine and hop out.

𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝?

I thumb in and send the message to Davina.

𝙱𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜! :)

She responds, and I can't remember the last time she used a smiley face. It warms my chest up, seeing that she's slowly getting better.

The door finally opens, but the person I see at the threshold is not who I was expecting.

"Alright?" Reyman greets me, awkwardly, not really looking at anything but the suitcase that he places down by his leg.

I want to make a joke, ask if he's moving out too, but I know it'd be awfully wrong and uncomfortable. Instead, I acknowledge him with a slight movement of my head.

Suddenly, and thankfully, Davina appears at the threshold and saves us from the itching silence.

"Hi," she says, less ebullient than I'd thought she would be. She must feel very uncomfortable herself.

"Ready?" My question sounds terribly cheery.

She nods her head and reaches for the suitcase, but Will beats her to it.

"I've got it," he mutters, barely audible, then diverts his sight at me.

My breath hitches in my throat. I've never seen tears in his eyes, but now they're there, obvious and brimming. He must've cried a little bit more beforehand as his whites are reddened. He looks beaten. William Reyman looks beaten. It's far beyond me.

"Is the boot open?" he asks, walking towards my car.

I double press one of the buttons on the key to unlock all doors. "It is now."

He lifts the boot lid and places Davina's suitcase inside. "All done. You sure you've got everything?" He looks at her, inscrutable.

"I'm sure," she responds, equally impassive, but she's definitely uncomfortable as she rushes her stare towards me. "Shall we get going then?"

"Jump in," I tell her, pretending that the awkwardness isn't killing me at all.

She casts a brief glimpse towards Will, who's shutting the boot, and then she gives him a feeble smile that lasts no longer than a second.

When she settles in the car, I close the door behind her and beckon at Will to follow me to the side. Confused, he follows my tentative steps, and then, catching me completely off guard, he speaks up first.

"If she ever needs anything, and I mean anything, just call me." His stare is beseeching and full of sorrow.

As much as I hate him for ruining my relationship with Davina and being a dick towards me the entire time I've known him for, I can't help but sympathize with him. I know what it feels like to lose her. I know what it feels like to be heartbroken.

"Just let her have something she didn't have with her parents and neither did you with your father."

His brows scrunch in curiosity. "What is it?"

I inhale deeply. "A goodbye."

The dejection dissipates from his eyes and gets replaced by some sort of gratitude and respect. He slightly nods his head, as if unable to speak, as if there were too many thoughts tumbling around his head right now.

"Take care, mate," I say, fiddling with the key, beginning to walk back towards my car.

"Nathan?" His voice halts me.

A feeling of shock streaks through me. I don't think I've ever heard him call me by my name. I might have, but it's still so anomalous. I look at him, attentive.

"The same goes for you. If you ever need anything, just call me."

I'm waiting for him to start laughing in that abrupt, derogatory way of his, the same way in which he always treated me, but he doesn't. He seems beyond genuine.

I nod my head thank you and get in the car.

"Everything okay?" Davina asks almost immediately.

I think about what just happened. I think about her moving out, about the suitcase that sits in the boot of my vehicle, about the fact that Reyman showed me some respect, and that I'm driving home the girl that I love, and that I am the one who she trusted to take her there.

"Yeah." I smile at her warmly, starting up the engine. "Everything's perfect."

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